CHAPTER 81

Faye ran her fingers through his hair. "It doesn't feel strange to me."

His soft laughter glided over her skin as he leaned back. "Lesson first."

Faye reluctantly released him and nodded.

"Shielding yourself is simple. I will teach you different shields and how to apply them to others or spaces at a later time." Faye nodded and Rune continued. "Draw your power to you and let it overflow, spilling past you."

Faye concentrated, studying his shoulder. Her power loomed far beneath her, but like her shards it felt like a piece of her. She took a breath summoning it. Her magic curled slowly, lifting higher, rising to her body. Cold pinpricks covered her as it flowed past, coating her. A black mist edged in purple tendrils flashed over her then faded.

A flick of dark power sizzled at her arm. Her misted shield set aglow where Rune's magic touched her shield.

"It looks like the Darkness itself." He lowered his hand, running a finger along her arm. Her shield glowing to life and fading away in the wake of his touch.

"How do I drop the shield?"

He smirked. "Relax. Let it fall from you."

Faye closed her eyes. Her magic felt fluid and malleable. Eager to obey her will. A breath passed through her lips as she let her shield slip away. It dissipated fading the same way Rune's veined, misted shadows slipped to nothing as they swayed over the tops of his cheekbones.

Strong hands closed over Faye's hips, pulling her closer. Faye sighed, lifting her chin as Rune's lips met the hollow of her throat, giving him more access.

"I worried it would take you hours to relax enough to drop your shield." Another kiss under her jaw. "Or did you hold the shields around your mind to torment me?"

Faye gazed down at him. "You deserved it. So upset to be paired with a mortal peasant."

He held her closer, brushing his fingertips over her back in long soothing strokes. "I regret tarnishing our beginning. I should have recognized the gift fate placed before me."

He gazed up at her. His yearning is evident in his pale blue gaze. Darkness, she loved this man. Faye ran her hands through his hair and rested her forehead against his. "You can spend the rest of my life making up for it."

Rune shifted, gently laying her on their bed. He leaned over her, his lips settling over hers in a soft kiss. When he pulled back Faye didn't see hunger or need in his expression. Reverence filled his gaze, and Faye's chest tightened at his words.

"I will worship you for the rest of mine."

Faye groaned when Rune slipped from the bed, taking his warmth with him. Morning came entirely too quickly. She glared in the silent-walker's direction when the water spray in the shower started. Rolling over she clutched Rune's pillow close, breathing in his scent of amber and sandalwood. She closed her eyes letting the fall of water fade to the background.

Fingers brushed through her hair, and she pulled the blankets tighter around her, needing a few more hours. She cracked her lids begrudgingly and gazed up.

Rune smiled down at her; a towel wrapped around his lean waist. "Damian is in the courtyard if you were meaning to join him this morning."

"You kept me up too late," Faye grumbled.

Rune laughed softly, "At someone's insistence."

"Did he ask you to get me?"

"No, I hear him every morning."

Every morning he and Sadi stayed in the north wing. "Sadi's a bitch."

"She's protective of her court."

"Of you, more like. I didn't see her coming to Lyssa's defense." Faye glanced away remembering Rune's words.Tell me she is not the very image of Sadi.The wounds she received that night were still raw, and Sadi's behavior did nothing to soothe that pain. "She acts like you were romantically involved."

"Vsenia." Rune lifted her in his arms, pulling her and the blankets onto his lap. He held her close, stroking her hair. "Sadi came to court after she invoked her blood. In the seventeen centuries I have known her, I have never touched her in that way." Rune kissed her brow. "You are the only one I desire."

Faye leaned against Rune's chest, pulling the blanket tighter around her. "You were the High Queen's consort, and you didn't desire her either."

"Lyssa was not the High Queen when I served as her consort. It was… complicated." Rune leaned back, searching her eyes. "You told me once you preferred honesty to flattery. Does that still hold true?" At Faye's nod he continued. "Lyssa's mother Belind ruled our court. Lyssa made a formal petition to Belind requesting I serve as her consort. This type of request is done publicly. I was quite surprised when I was summoned before the court."

Faye's expression contorted in revulsion. "She forced you to be her consort?"

"No." Rune shook his head. "I could have declined her petition. I could have declined her every time she left the door open between our rooms."

"Then why?" Why would he agree to be with someone he didn't want?

He absently stroked her hair. Saying nothing as long moments passed between them. When Faye thought he wouldn't answer, he spoke.

"I felt nothing. My existence was methodical and cold before you. I mistakenly thought desire was a thing to be coaxed and mastered." Rune laughed softly. The sound was joyless. "I regarded the world the same way I regarded my power. I hoped with time and patience, I would feel something for her. Lyssa made no secret of desiring me, so I agreed."

"The High Queen knew."

"Lyssa was aware of my lack of response. I typically remained dressed when I tended to her. We did not share a bed, and I kept my own quarters. I relinquished the position after a little more than a century."

He spent over a hundred years with the high bitch. "How long ago was this?"

"Over a dozen centuries. She continued to ask me to see her. I did so infrequently. The last time I saw her was more than a decade ago.

"Lyssa invited me to her bed this past Hunter's Moon ball. I declined and told her she should find a male who feels the same way about her that she feels about him." Rune gazed down at her as he ran the backs of his fingers over her cheek, his eyes lit with amusement. "She dismissed me, and I phased to the food station thinking no one would be there that late in the night. A clumsy minx fell into me and ran."

Faye supposed she had Sparrow to thank for this man. She teasingly smiled up at her beautiful hunter. "And was it a bolt of lightning? You instantly knew you were mine without even seeing me?"

Rune laughed as his expression warmed. "The Ra'Voshnik knew immediately. I was not fond of the loss of control."

Faye pouted at him. "Poor Shadow Prince. Is your will still stronger than your flesh, big guy?"

A crimson so dark it looked black bled through his gaze and dissipated. Those beautiful veined misted shadows remained, forking from beneath his eyes, swaying over the tops of his cheekbones. Faye brought her hand to the side of his face. Rune purred, leaning into her touch before he gazed down at her with a soul-deep yearning.

"I am defenseless against you, vsenia. My will, my strength, my life are yours. Command me as you will."